Looking ahead: Spring 2011 at the opera

It is not too late to join The BLO Bunch for the remainder of Boston Lyric Opera's 2010-2011 Season. There is so much in store, from the two remaining mainstage productions, Agrippina and A Midsummer Night's Dream to the second annual Opera Annex production, The Emperor of Atlantis, or Death Quits. Subscriptions are still on sale, as are individual tickets to The Emperor of Atlantis, or Death Quits. All three productions have a special student night (always the Wednesday night of the run) followed by a post-performance reception! You can buy all three as a bundle or pick and choose. Call Audience Services for details (617.542.6772)

What are these operas all about?

Ullmann's The Emperor of Atlantis, or Death Quits: Hope, humor and the value of the human spirit prevail when Death takes life’s side against an evil Emperor. In 1943, composer Viktor Ullmann and poet Petr Kien created this almost inconceivably wry and uplifting opera while in the concentration camp Terezin. Their opera survives as a rich testament to freedom and human will power.

(Performance: 527 Tremont Street | Reception: 28 Degrees, One Appleton Street | Date: Feb. 2, 2011) 

Handel's Agrippina: Agrippina wants her rotten son to be the Emperor of Rome. What’s a mother to do? She promises anything to everyone standing in her way: Nero himself, an ambitious courtesan, a general, a couple of fawning sycophants, and half the Roman Senate. Also her husband, current Emperor Claudius. The numbers are staggering. No, really. Handel’s music soars. Come delight in his fresh musical invention and some crazy, hothouse humanity.

(Performance: 265 Tremont Street | Reception: Jacob Wirth, 34 Stuart Street | Date: March 16, 2011) 

Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream: Ah, the thrill of the chase. Over hill, over dale, girdling the Earth in forty minutes—when the words are mostly Shakespeare, even the libretto sings. Britten gives us a stageful of sprites and mortals in a touching and very funny take: a dreamscape. Or is it a nightmare? Depends on how you feel about unrequited love, and donkeys.

(Performance: 265 Tremont Street | Reception: Jacob Wirth, 34 Stuart Street | May 4, 2011)

Still not sure? Hear from students what gets them so excited about opera.

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~See you at the opera! ~